The present invention relates to amusement rides and, more particularly, to a rapid-winding winch for launching and accelerating the carriage of an amusement ride to a high velocity in a short time.
Amusement rides of a variety of types have provided great thrills to many people over the years. Well known rides include roller coasters, parachute and elevator drops, bungee jumps and free fall rides, vertical accelerator rides, and so forth. Typical vertical accelerator rides have a passenger carriage connected to bungee cords or other elastic members such as springs. The bungee cords are connected to cables that are routed around pulleys at the top of towers and pulleys at the bottom of the towers, with the cables connected to a mechanism that winds them to tension the bungee cords. A locking mechanism secures the carriage in place while the bungee cords are tensioned, and releases the carriage to launch the carriage into motion under the force of the tensioned bungee cords. Such typical vertical accelerator rides are disclosed by U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,810,671, 5,649,866, and 5,421,783, which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.
In the use of such vertical accelerator rides, however, the connections of the bungee cords to the cables weaken due to the mechanical stresses and strains caused by the frequent stretching of the bungee cords. If left unchecked, this connection and/or the bungee cord itself will eventually fail. When there is such a failure while the ride is in use, the result is often injury or death to the passengers in the carriage. In order to maintain the safety of the ride, the operator of the ride must frequently change out the bungee cords and/or the connections of the bungee cords to the cables. This can be a costly and time-consuming procedure in materials and labor. Furthermore, because of the potential for injury or death to passengers, some people consider all vertical accelerator rides with bungee cords to be inherently unsafe, even though a particular ride may be properly maintained.
In order to eliminate the maintenance costs and the stigma associated with bungee cords, it is desirable to design and operate vertical accelerator rides without bungee cords. One known design provides cables that connect directly to the passenger carriage, without intermediate bungee cord sections, and with a mechanism for forcefully yanking the cables to launch the carriage into the air. Such a mechanism is disclosed by PCT Patent Application No. WO99/47,221. The mechanism of this apparatus uses an array of springs, a ram for loading the springs, and an array of pulleys for rapidly unwinding the cables thereabout when the springs are unloaded to achieve a mechanical advantage.
The large number of pulleys, however, have several drawbacks. The friction from the cables winding around all of the pulleys results in energy loss which reduces the effectiveness of the mechanism and heat generation which degrades the strength characteristics of the cable. Also, the cables are of a heavy gauge for strength, but have to bend around the pulleys at a relatively small radius for such heavy gauge cable, resulting in stresses that weaken the cables. Furthermore, the large number of pulleys are costly to purchase, assemble, lubricate, maintain, and replace.
Accordingly, what is needed but not found in the prior art is a mechanism that launches a carriage of an amusement ride to a high velocity in a short period of time, but that does not have bungee cords connected to the carriage and that does not stress and degrade the cables. Additionally, there is a need for a launch mechanism that also provides an automatic braking and dampening action subsequent to launching the carriage. Furthermore, there is a need for such a mechanism that is safe, reliable, and cost-effective to make and use.
In view of the foregoing, it will be appreciated that the present invention provides a rapid-winding winch for an amusement ride that launches a carriage of the amusement ride to a high velocity in a short period of time, without the deficiencies of the prior art. The winch can be used in conjunction with a variety of types of amusement rides, including vertical accelerator rides, roller coasters, parachute and elevator drops, bungee jumps and free fall rides, merry-go-rounds, dragster and rocket launcher rides, and so forth.
For example, the winch can be used with a vertical accelerator ride that has two towers, a passenger carriage, and cables that are routed around pulleys on the towers and connected between the carriage and the winch. The winch has a rapidwinding capability for launching the carriage with great acceleration to achieve the desired thrill of the ride. Because of the rapid-winding capability of the winch, the cables can be connected directly to and between the carriage and the winch, without intermediate cord sections having bungee cords or springs. Because the launching force is provided by the winch and because there are no cable sections or connections requiring frequent replacement, the stigma of unsafety is avoided.
Generally described, the winch comprises an energy storage mechanism having one or more elastic members such as springs, one or more tethers coupled to the elastic members, an axle with the tethers windable and unwindable about the surface of the axle, and drums coupled to the axle with the cables windable and unwindable about the surface of the drums. Actuators such as hydraulic cylinders operate to extend the elastic members and thereby charge and store energy in the elastic members. A releasable lock such as a magnet secures the carriage in place while the carriage is loaded with passengers and while the elastic members are charged. Also, the elastic members can be connected between attachment members, with the tethers connected to one of the attachment members.
In one aspect of the invention, the drum surfaces have a diameter that is greater than a diameter of the axle surface, thereby providing a mechanical advantage when winding and unwinding the cables to move the carriage. When the carriage is unlocked, the tethers are pulled rapidly upward with great force by the charged elastic members, thereby unwinding the tethers from the axle and causing the axle to rotate. When the axle rotates, the drums also rotate because they are connected together. As the drums rotate, they wind in the cables from around the pulleys, thereby launching the carriage. Because of the fractional ratio of the axle diameter to the drum diameters, one revolution of the drums winds in a much greater length of cable than the length of tether that is wound out in one revolution of the axle. In this manner, the carriage can be launched with great acceleration in response to the winch axle rotating only a few revolutions, or only a part of one revolution.
In another aspect of the invention, the number, length, and strength of the elastic members, the travel and power of the actuators, and the height of the towers are selected so that the elastic members are discharged before the carriage reaches the tops of the towers. After the carriages passes the tops of the towers, its momentum will then recharge the elastic members until the carriage reaches the apex of its oscillatory trajectory, then the elastic members will again discharge to thrust the carriage back downward. In this manner, the carriage will continue this cycle until the elastic members are completely discharged, at which time the ride is completed and/or relaunched.
In yet another aspect of the invention, the drum surfaces have at least one groove for receiving the cables in a spiral, layered arrangement, so that the cable is wound in on top of itself. Also, the axle surfaces can have grooves in a coiled, sideby-side arrangement for receiving and directing the tetherstransversely along the axle surface, for minimizing energy loss and the risk of tangles.
In a further aspect of the invention, a ramp is provided for guiding the path of the carriage when launched by the winch. The ramp can have a shape that is circular or oval, and/or have sections that are linear, curved, sinusoidal, corkscrew, or of another shape. The carriage can be movably attached to the ramp by a race member, roller mechanism, wheels, or another mechanism, and the ramp can have one of more release ramps. In this manner, the carriage can be launched by the winch along the ramp and directed by a release ramp into an oscillating, looping, spiral, linear, or other motion.
In another aspect of the invention, the carriage is provided by a harness that a rider wears and that is connected to the cable, and a launch frame from (which the rider jumps) is connected to the tower in an elevated position. When the rider jumps and falls from the launch frame, his or her weight on the cables charges the energy storage mechanism. Then the charged energy storage mechanism pulls the rider back upwardly in an oscillatory motion. Thus, in this form of the invention, the actuator and lock need not be provided.
In a further aspect of the invention, the attachment members that connect the elastic members and the tethers each have an opening, and a safety cable or other member is routed through the openings. In this manner, even if one of the elastic members were to break, the safety cable would hold the corresponding attachment member so that the tether would not be able to wind in and the cable would not be able to rapidly and uncontrollably unwind. Also, multiple elastic members and multiple tethers can be connected to each attachment member.
In yet another aspect of the invention, the energy storage mechanism is provided by telescopic spring devices where the elastic members are provided by concentric coil springs. The coil springs are positioned within concentric sleeves having flanges that engage the ends of the coil springs to compress the springs when the actuators are operated. In this manner, the energy storage mechanism is charged by the compression of the springs and, therefore, even if a spring were to fail, the cable would not be able to rapidly and uncontrollably unwind. This provides for enhanced safety and eliminates the possibility of catastrophic failure of the ride.
In still a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a method for propelling a carriage of an amusement ride. The method can include locking the carriage in a fixed position, charging and storing energy in one or more elastic members, and unlocking the carriage so that it is free to move. The method can further include winding out one or more tethers from a surface of an axle, wherein the tethers are coupled to the elastic members and are wound out under the force of the energy stored in the elastic members; winding in one or more cables about a surface of one or more drums connected to the axle, wherein the cables are wound in responsive to the winding out of the tethers about the axle, the drum surfaces diameter being greater than the axle surface diameter to provide a mechanical advantage; and propelling the carriage in response to the winding in of the cables about the drums, wherein the cables are connected to the carriage. Additionally, the method can comprise winding out the cable from the drums to store a charge in the elastic members, and returning the carriage to locked position.
The specific techniques and structures employed by the invention to improve over the drawbacks of the prior systems and accomplish the advantages described above will become apparent from the following detailed description of the embodiments of the invention and the appended drawings and claims.